Two dead, 100 injured in Los Angeles County jail riots

The violence began at the North County Correctional Facility, part of the Pitchess Detention Center, in Castaic. The first outbreak—which by all accounts was instigated by leaders of the Mexican Mafia as means of establishing dominance over rival black gangs—involved hundreds of inmates.

Outdated plumbing had caused sheriff’s deputies to move 500 extra inmates to an already overcrowded wing of the jail, which helped ignite the situation. By Saturday evening, well over 2,000 inmates were embroiled in the melee, using makeshift weaponry and bunk beds hurled from the upper stories of the jail onto brawling inmates below.

To retake control, hundreds of law enforcement officers from all over Southern California were called into emergency service. Repeatedly firing tear gas, pepper bombs and “sting ball grenades,” the guards were unable to contain the riot for nearly a day.

Ten inmates were sent to local hospitals for emergency treatment of their critical injuries and one inmate, Wayne Tiznor—a 45 year old black man—was found beaten to death. Tiznor was in jail awaiting trial for failing to register with local police as a sex offender. He was the ninth inmate killed by other inmates in the county jails in the past 2 1/2 years.

More
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/pris-f27.shtml